6 Things That Go Wrong in Modern Gaming – From a Retro Gamer (Part 2)

Continuing on last post’s run, I have decided now to tackle the next three issues that I feel modern gaming has. Again, this list is a bit personal, and maybe I am the worst person to talk about this because of my obvious preference of retro gaming, but still those factors have kept me away from playing newer games. You can make out of it whatever you want. Enjoy part 2!

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4 – Do you know what you are doing?

Now, this one is really weird: I played once this game that I think was called Viking. What bothered me while playing was that I constantly got the commands to do any normal action (aside from attacking) on my screen. It was a bit annoying and I thought I had some sort of help option on in the menu. I could not find how to turn off these “tips”, but after a while I did not even bother to finish the game.

The same happened on both Batman games. So, I was wondering what was up with that. It is bad enough that the controllers permit us a lot more of options, but now we forget our movements? Apparently it is so. So, what is next? Mortal Kombat with instructions on how to hit your enemy? I think this is an annoying trend, and it should be eliminated, although with modern control schemes it seems impossible.

And then there is the need of pressing buttons repeatedly to do anything! I understand if you have to do that at certain points to show how fast you are pressing a button. But in Viking it got ridiculous: to use the transporter from one part of the map to the other, you had to press one constantly. Why not make it just a line that loads? I know they make that to gate easy quick-travel and to make you fight those enemies instead of running, but a loading bar would have been enough in those instances. I tell you: it is a conspiracy to make us buy more controllers because of the tired X button!

5 – Now I only see a straight line!

By the gods, I could rant hours and hours at this one! But I will try to keep it short.

I am a great Doom fan. By that I mean that I like the first to 90s versions of the game. I even modded on it! The reason I avoided any publishing was because I felt my levels being too straight, to boring and with no real feeling like the one I had when playing the original levels.

This may be a joke, but it pretty much represents the real situation…

Then I played Halo. Everyone kept saying it was a great game with great looks. What everyone failed to notice is that it was a horrible straight line on which you literally went back and forth. Now, that was for me really boring game design, and lazy on top of that. Why should I play a few levels just to go back on them with new monster placement? I understand that if you want to repeat the game for a greater challenge. On Hella’s name, even Super Castlevania 4 did that as a bonus for the hardcore gamer. But to play the main story mode?

Now, this flaw I have noticed in many other shooters, mainly, although RPGs have not been devoid of this issue. The levels are not about exploration anymore, they have become just a straight line to get to an objective and that’s it. If you fail, you just repeat a part of it and that’s it. Halo did not give me the satisfaction Doom used to give me as a child. Sure, the multiplayer is great, but for me this factor alone is not even worth a purchase.

6 – Online required playing

Piracy is a problem. I understand that. Games want their money’s worth. I know, they are businesses after all. But one of the most stupid ideas ever created to “stop” piracy is that now you need to be online all the time! Just check Diablo 3. I waited for it for years, but now I am not playing it because it will require that my computer is connected on the internet all the time. But I can’t have it on all the time. In other words, if my provider has a problem, I will be unable to play it; which, by the way, happens a lot. That’s why I stopped playing online games. So I don’t think I will be able to play my “purchased” game without an offline mode.

This also translates to a problem in the DLC area I discussed last post. One day the servers for the games will not exist. What will I do then? Most probably hack the game to play it offline. This is not fair to the players. If I buy a disc, I want to be able to play it, no matter if I have a connection or not. This really just limits the fun of the game. The result: I have been holding off buying the game until it is either dirt cheap or the offline playing options is installed fully operational. This means, I should be able to play the game with every feature and achievement I can get from it.

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Now, I hope my “little” rant has not been all too negative. Modern gaming has had a lot of problems because it hit mainstream. I know old games were not perfect, but since the connection of the consoles to the internet and the creation of infinite possibilities, all I have seen now is a terrible money hungering industry that exploits its clients to the last. Yes, there are some companies that care, but they are turning more and more scarce, while publishers like EA swallow the small companies up. Those are the real monsters in the business.

Games are now rushed out, incomplete and everyone depends on the last minute repair through the internet connection. This definitely has gone too far.

In any case, I ask the player to think about the changes that we have lived in the industry and, maybe just once, try not to compulsively buy any game that hits the market just because of the hype. See you next week then!

4 comments on “6 Things That Go Wrong in Modern Gaming – From a Retro Gamer (Part 2)”

Agree with alot of what you said. I think the one bright side of gaming moving both toward the mainstream and internet is that there is alot of room for good independant developers to self publish their own games. If they’re good and can build a buzz, they can take off, Minecraft being probably the most successful example. There’s a lot of frustrations in modern gaming, but there are some bright spots as well.

Now, here is a weakness to my comment! I focused to much in console gaming. As a matter of fact there are great proyects out in the internet that have shown great promise. I must say Minecraft is one of my favourite today, as well as the Battle for Wesnoth. Mainstream does not mean automatically bad, but an emergence of a lot of bad things with a few good ones. And we should try to cherish those good things! Like building castles with square blocks while fighting creepers!

Just read both your posts about this and found it hit upon a lot of truths (Though I do love lots of buttons on controllers… but that’s just me!)

And you couldn’t have described the DLC situation more accurately. It’s gotten to the point where I won’t play a new game anymore until the sequel is realised, because I’m afraid I’ll play through it missing half of the stuff that’ll be realised as DLC later on.

Skyrim is one of the only recent AAA games in recent times where the only DLC they’ve released has been a big solid expansion which adds a whole new story (Meaning you don’t need it for the main story). This is exactly how DLC should be done.

Games used to stuff their games with extra goodies which you had to explore and unlock. Unlocking characters in Tekken, or cars in Ridge Racer, were all down to your persistence and skill with the game… rather than your wallet.

Everytime I see the term ‘DLC’, I want to hit something… hard!

Thanks for your two posts though, they were very good reading!

(PS, if you haven’t already, play Jedi Outcast. It was probably the last ‘first person’ shooter which kept the exploration in levels)

Now, thanks for the comment and thanks for the tip. I now have a new game to look for and play! I’ll look at it. I hope one day companies (like EA) finally get the message, but for them to get the message it requires the players to think what they want and not download EVERY DLC. I really doubt they are really happy by emptying wallets. Or maybe it is just me.

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